TRAVEL TALES : SANTA BARBARA'S DELICIOUS WEEKEND ADVENTURE.

Byline: Carol Bidwell

If you have a taste for sausage and pepper sandwiches, lasagna, spaghetti and other things Italian - plus cooler weather - head for Santa Barbara this weekend for Fiesta Italiana, a two-day festival of food, music and dance.

Events run 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Oak Park, on Junipero Street off Pueblo Street. Admission is free; food prices vary. Information: [phone].

The Ming thing: Lake Ming in Bakersfield will host the KCBC Drag Boat Races and Alcohol Boat Shootout Aug. 24 and 25, featuring alcohol-powered boats that travel more than 200 mph. Racing at the lake, off Alfred Harrel Highway, begins at 8 a.m. both days. Admission is $10 per day; kids under 12 are free with an adult. Information: [phone].

Bountiful harvest: It'll be harvest time in Long Beach Aug. 31-Sept. 2 when the touring Harvest Festival settles in at the Long Beach Convention Center, at Shoreline Drive and Linden Avenue. There'll be dozens of artisans with items for sale, including woodcarvings, jewelry, ceramics and pottery, leather crafts, handblown glassware, paintings, sculpture, candles and more, plus demonstrations of fudge making, tole painting, wood carving, quilting, teddy bear making and other crafts.

The festival will run 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 31 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 1 and 2. Admission is $6.50 for adults, $5.50 for seniors 55 and over and $3.50 for kids age 6-12. Information: [phone].

Hail to the cheap: The Country Side Suites in Yorba Linda offers a Presidential Package that includes a night's lodgings for two, breakfast and admission for two to the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace. Cost is $75, single or double occupancy, good through Dec. 31 based on space availability. Information: [phone].